The Community Blog for Business Analysts

Analytical and Problem Solving Skills

Process mapping vs. process discovery is akin to perceived reality vs. reality; the former rooted in subjectivity, the latter rooted in verifiable data. Elements of process mapping creep into process discovery, restricting an absolute dichotomy between the two. However, the critical differentiator between mapping and discovery lies in the distincti...

On a recent Agile training course, the instructor opened the session by saying “Agile without a plan is just chaos!” I would like to propose that Agile without effective Architecture will eventually lead to chaos, particularly if organisations try to scale their Agile practices without some form of guiding framework.
The fundamental r...

As business analysts, we are often in the fray of designing. Whether it’s a user interface, report or data fed from one system to another; business analysts create interfaces with human beings and systems. Our design choices impact users and other systems in a very real way. This power can go unnoticed even in our own minds....

Business Systems Analyst as a Career Option
If you are an IT professional in India, thinking of working abroad, you might want to consider a business/systems analyst position.
Why?
It’s a position in high demand with high earning potential and which can serve as a great foundation for moving up the corporate ladder into management or busin...

The problem: Do you know when you’re done?
Given a specific project with a reasonably defined charter and clear business goals you, the business analyst, set out to elicit and document the detailed business requirements.
So when do you stop?
Whether you lead a team of business analysts or you do the work yourself, you probably struggled tr...

“Bring me solutions, not problems”. How often have we heard those words uttered by management? In the main it’s a sensible ask however, for a Business Analyst, quite the opposite is true. Our job is to define business problems when often we are presented with solutions.
“We need a new reporting tool because the MI we receive isn’t always cor...

I keep seeing in BA skill descriptions or in specific articles that ‘negotiation skills’ are a necessity for Business Analysts. I just don’t see it myself. Negotiation is a difficult activity for many people, and I see this trend as an attempt to offload negotiation to other people… like Business Analysts.
Why do I feel this way? As an activ...

Over last 6 years, I have come across more than hundreds of analysts and have conducted almost equal number of interviews. Over this time, I have developed a knack of differentiating best analysts from good and good analysts from bad. If you face this challenge regularly, this post might help you.
So how do you differentiate between g...

In my previous posts I outlined how I was able to succeed being the first and only BA at a company and the importance of establishing trust between you and the stakeholders.
So you're the first BA at a company. All are looking at you and thinking what can this person do for me?
Good question. What can you do f...

Its quite a feat of strength to pretend you don’t have any weaknesses. I don’t pretend to be that strong.
Its quite a bit easier for me to look for faults, gaps, misses, short comings, imperfections and details that spell out why something is not right.
Its a blessing and a curse.
Looking at my deliverables in this light is second nature...

I am working on a project where Development teams are divided into specialized areas called Centers of Competence. For example, one team works on Customer data, another team on Product data and validation, another works with the Shopping Cart, another with Checkout and so on. Requirements are gathered within each of these Centers of Competence and ...

Business Analysts often delve into business requirements, gathering, understanding and documenting business processes and functions. An analytical mind and detailed information gathering are considered to be essential; one wonders though, if industry experience is a must for good business analysis skills. After all, if you knew well the ins...

I know you are going to call me crazy, but I just have to let everyone know. Machines are controlling us. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You don’t believe me? Okay, I’ll explain.
People come and go in organizations. Systems tend to stay much longer. Simple enough right? Here is the kicker. When that sy...

Being a relatively new Requirements Analyst/ Business Analyst ( BA) and being new to the industry, I have been blessed with the opportunity to have mentors. Receiving direction from more experienced BA’s has definitely helped me find areas that I can improve on, while at the same time, finding my strengths and improving those too.
Yet there stil...

Last year, I wrote about my Lessons from a Bad Haircut. I’m please to say I finally have a lesson from a good haircut.
How did I finally get a good haircut?
It was what the stylist did after I explained what I wanted. She drew a quick sketch. It took about 15 seconds. And, with that sketch, I was able to say “No, that’s not what I want.” 60 ...

One of the values that we bring is that we can help our clients to decide what scope to cut by providing them with a framework that links quantifiable business objectives to specific features. We create an objective chain to do this and it helps to spotlight features that don’t feed into the core business purpose. Typically our stakeholders are abl...

I went to the Business Analyst World Conference in Melbourne on the 19th and 20th of July. Like last year it was a great event. On day 1 I spent the whole day in one room (introducing speakers.) and got to listen to three very different stories.
Matthew Coppola from Perth training outfit Paramount Training gave a talk on Und...

I am all for great tools and processes that increase efficiency of work, facilitate better accuracy, allow for repeatable results, so on and so forth. But sometimes they simply do not fit. Yes, I just said better is not always good. Why? Spending time trying to improve tools or processes on short turnaround projects or tasks is us...

There was recently an interesting post by John Mansour on the Austin PMM Forum (registration required) discussing whether Product Knowledge was an Asset or Liability to product managers.
The author makes several claims about how product knowledge is a liability:
“In a nutshell, the more product knowledge you have, the less product management yo...

By Landerson
I recently joined a new project where I will be working as the person responsible for the developing and creating the requirements and documentation on a major development effort. As the person on the hook for a significant portion of work, I need to provide accurate time estimates for my portions of the project. I was concerned about...

Modern Analyst Blog Latests

As we start a new year many of us will take the time to reflect on our accomplishments from 2012 and plan our goals for 2013. We can set small or large goals. goals that will be accomplished quickly or could take several years. For 2013, I think Business Analysts should look to go beyond our traditional boundaries and set audacious goals.
Merriam-...

Recently, I was asked by the IIBA to present a talk at one of their chapter meetings. I am reprinting here my response to that invitation in the hope that it will begin a conversation with fellow EEPs and BAs about an area of great concern to the profession.
Hi xx
…. Regarding the IIBA talk, there is another issue that I am considering. It's p...

Continuing the ABC series for Business Analysts, Howard Podeswa created the next installment titled "BA ABCs: “C” is for Class Diagram" as an article rather than a blog post. You can find the article here: BA ABCs: “C” is for Class Diagram Here are the previous two posts: BA ABCs: “A” is for Activity Diagram BA ABCs: “B” is for BPMN